Cuomo: Senate passing budget proof gov't is working

ALBANY - The Senate pulled an all-nighter to finish passing a new $143 billion state budget today, paving the way for final Assembly passage Thursday and prompting Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare "I'm hap-hap-happy."

The Senate wrapped up voting on the budget at 4:30 a.m., delivering the bills to Assembly Democrats who postponed final action in observance of Passover. The budget is expected to be completed before Good Friday.

Cuomo spoke on statewide public radio this morning, opening by quoting one of the trademark "I'm happy, happy, happy" lines from the hit A&E TV reality show about hunting, "Duck Dynasty." But he turned serious, saying that the new budget resulted from a new bipartisan atmosphere in the Capitol.

"It's the third (on time) budget in a row," Cuomo said on the Capitol Pressroom program. "It's a new record. Government is working. It's a smart, sound budget. I think it's great."

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The atmosphere in the Senate as the night wore on was not as happy, with Democrats complaining of cuts and measures blocked by the ruling Senate Majority Coalition, the bloc of Republicans and breakaway Democrats that have denied other Democrats a majority even though they hold the most seats on paper.

"I find both the process and this whole budget objectionable," Sen. Kevin Parker (D- Brooklyn) said Tuesday as the voting got under way. "The process is objectionable to have. Again, this process with four men in a room (and) not to have any leaders in the room, not to have any African-Americans, any Latinos, Asians or women involved in the process is objectionable."

"To have a process in which the governor bullies us through a budget that doesn't have the things that are important for our communities in it is objectionable," he added.

Cuomo turned aside complaints about the all-night session, which he said was necessary because of the Passover and Easter observances, family vacations and other factors. "It worked and that's the bottom line," he said.

Senate co-leaders Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County) and Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) issued a statement taking credit for pushing the budget through, saying "our coalition passed an important test and showed the country how bipartisan government is supposed to work."

The new budget raises taxes on the wealthy, while offering families with children earning between $40,000 and $300,000 rebate checks for $350 that will be mailed out right before the 2014 election. The measure also raises some fees, including jacking up the cost of speeding tickets.

The plan adds $1 billion in new school aid, prompting the AQE pro-school spending group with financial ties to the teachers union to say this was the best budget since 2008, the last budget to be passed prior to the near-collapse of the U.S. economy.

The Senate Majority Coalition blocked efforts by Democrats to tie the minimum wage to cost of living increases, expand the rebates beyond families with children, and provide more money to localities, rural school districts, and OPWDD programs for the developmentally disabled.